Heretofore, transmission select and/or shift shafts have generally consisted of sliding types. For example, each of Hurlow U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,417, Suzuki U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,329, and Kinkade, et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,560 discloses a common or single sliding and rotational shift shaft or rod.
Prior remote shift control arrangements, which have been utilized in conjunction with double rotational select and shift shafts, have not generally utilized flexible push-pull cables leading substantially directly from the remote shift control lever unit to the double shafts. For example, Crack U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,964 discloses flexible cables which must traverse substantially right angle turns therebetween, with a combination torque tube flexible cable serving as the select shaft rotating means.
West U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,403 discloses matched motion translators in master and slave units, which are rotationally and translationally guided in their respective units, and interconnected by dual push-pull cables. Matched driving and driven (gear select shift rail) members having rotary and linear motions are disclosed in Leigh-Monstevens U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,640.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,211 includes an upright shaft rotatable by a first cable via a crank arm to, in turn, rotate an inner crank arm and, thereby, slide a rail selector sleeve mounted around a gearshift shaft. The latter, with the rail selector sleeve keyed thereto and free to slide longitudinally thereof, is rotated by an upright pivotable crank arm actuated by a second cable.
Furthermore, many internal shift mechanisms have heretofore comprised mechanisms having rotational rail selector movement, in contrast to linear movement, requiring longer shift finger design and consequent increased size an weight of associated parts, in addition to increased frictional losses resulting from a sliding selector member being pushed by the rotating shift finger.